Leaderboard

Another reason for any TV deal to just do a highlights package using the club streams... Too many times meetings don't happen due to weather predictions, riders not liking the track or just simply rain offs.. The sport needs to build a reputation for professionalism, and "live Speedway" going out often doesn't always paint that picture... Time to edit the best highlights, and interviews covering rider commitments and lifestyles, can start to build that reputation..

And I if hear riders safety one more time🤬firstly racing motorbikes is dangerous, don’t like that fact do something else, 2nd,ok riders let’s talk about lowering the revs by 2000revs on the engines and make them less volatile and ultimately a considerable amount safer to ride ? No I didn’t think so

Still more entertaining than most meetings at Poole.

I would of raced last night but riders were of a different mindset back in the day and we raced engines that were suited to the conditions not conditions suited to the engines, with that statement can anyone see where the problem is ???

Well, with that kind of serious threat, I’m sure the Glasgow management will be in touch to make sure you’re ok with their choices of rider next season before they sign as it would surely be a disaster for the club if you didn’t turn up…….🤣

Not in the Black Country it isn’t

it was ever thus, though... Watching Peter Collins on World Of Sport winning ten races, (max) a season from the back, in brilliant fashion, wasn't replicated at Hyde Rd each week given he often won races there by half a straight... But what he did on WOS got the crowd in to watch him ride for the Aces . The majority of races since the sport began have been strung out, from the gate, therefore showing highlights, just like World Of Sport showed, will hopefully get people there .. Then, it is up to the promoters to raise their game (very considerably), in regards to their "on the night" presentation standards off the track, and the entertainment level on it...

What’s the point you are trying to make

Maybe not running again after several days of Stox will be the answer going forward?.. Obviously a huge learning curve this season, but one I am sure they will learn from and improve on..

I knew you lot couldn’t live without me and I couldn’t let you suffer the trauma ,back by popular demand (said nobody ever) 😂

There were no bangers or hot rods last weekend. 😉

Agree to a point but if a highlights package only produces a false picture of what attending a meeting is like your setting yourself up to fail because as soon as these people visit most tracks they will see a much different picture and won’t be back.

Play Offs will do the same over here... It's the "run of the mill" meetings, that can easily get rearranged, and often then become Guestfests, that get called off the "easiest"... Those are the nights "live TV" would do the sport no favours...

Oh dear. I went to the very first opening match and it was known they had practiced in the afternoon, the match afterwards in front of a crowd that must have been at least 3 thousand was effectively ruined, the racing was gate and go with little if any overtaking other that first bend and mistakes. Its clear from reading this thread today that a junior meeting took place in the afternoon proves that the idiots in charge are just not learning from earlier mistakes, using sub standard track material or don’t have the expertise to lay a track that provides proper racing, clearly the rain didn’t help but weather forecasts exist these days and should be taken into account. I haven't been to Northampton since but we are looking to attending the Woffinden Testimonial in October, it will be interesting to see if anything has changed, from what I have read this year I fear not much, we will see.

He's been detrimental to the whole Tigers' season because with Howarth retired Glasgow needed everyone else to step up and be prepared to fight. I'd rather he didn't come back, if only for the team spirit alone because when he did turn up he always looked gloomy and disinterested. He had two good races all season, both of which he made the gate but in one of them he was pressured into a fall. At the start of the season everyone assured me he was the best thing to come out of Germany since bratwurst but even a sausage on a bike would have been more committed to the Tigers' cause than he is. If he's back next season I'll not be.

What rules have we bent or is it just another pathetic jibe from an anti Poole supporter.

Does it matter given they are the best available and Joe Public ha not got a clue as to the standard and hierarchy in the sport in the UK. Speedway in the UK does not and cannot compete with any other league in Europe but those viewers who tuned in and looked at the event found something different but they have not got a clue as to who the riders were and at this stage it is all about attracting punters. You could have conference league riders but it is all about four riders on bikes with no brakes going head to head on powerful machines that would scare the sh.t. From the average bike rider. if packaged in the right format viewers will follow. Trouble is the presentation needs honing to sell it as a great form of entertainment and not chase the idea that it should be shown live as spectacle. Live televised meetings are the achilles heal of speedway and no sensible promoter would suggest that the live meeting are the answer. Any punter who attends a live meeting recognises that t v transmissions are a disaster and the armchair audience simply accept what is served up which compared to the Polish t v offering is in the UK rubbish

That's a joke, right? Rye House was an absolute Sahara, with billowing dust, on every Sunday I visited it over forty seasons. Not that I won't back every effort by the die-hards to get it back for speedway.

I think people are getting confused about the nexus of the issue, it’s not about tracks being slick, it’s not about tracks having home advantage, it’s about the practice of clubs allowing the track to be a dust bowl which does not do anyone less the sport any favours.

My thoughts on the decline. 1 Amount of entertainment per match. When I first started going, typically 21 races including 2nd half. Now it's 15. 2 Prices. Saw an article mentioning prices ( for a top division match) in the 80s. Had admission only gone up by inflation would about £9 adults, and £5 pensioners. Now more like £25/£23. This means the price per race has increased from around £0.43 to £1.66 for adults, and £0.24 to £1.53 pensioners. 3 Amount of time a meeting now takes. Seems to take longer now to do 15 races, than it did to do 21 races, many years ago. Recently went to Buxton. 3pm start, had hoped that all 15 main races and the extra MDL races would have been completed by 5pm. At 5.15, only 12 races had been completed, and they announced there would be an interval. At this point I left. Many followed. Some were departing as early as race 8. Will those people go back?. Simply taking longer to do less is not more entertaining. 4 "Gardening" at the tapes. Just boring to watch. 5 Dodgy call offs. 6 Lack of loyalty to long term fans. Seems to be some very good offers to potentially new and younger fans. All we regular fans seem to be getting is "the match has been called off" Someone is kicking a ball about/ there's something on the telly. We waited long enough for this year's fixtures, could at least try to stick to them. Not all speedway fans like football. Don't they matter?

Correct decision

I explained it twice recently. loser relegated winner into the Baraz and meet the loser of the Extraleague 2 play-off final( Poznan almost certainly.) Winners ride Extraleague/ loser Extraleague 2

I can only imagine the carnage on here if a team in British speedway won 1 meeting all season and avoided relegation 😆 Still, be funny if they do it.

Not sure that the Tigers are good at handling young riders. Boughen was another who didn't seem to fit in/ be part of the team. Pijper tells of there being too much pressure at Glasgow and how he is more settled at Redcar. Bickley possibly another and Berge perhaps as well.

3 day meetings are few and far between, especially on shale, but this was a major championship weekend for 2 formulas, with 2 other formulas in support, and many drivers from overseas. It was programmed a year ago (I booked my accommodation in October) so it's not like it was a surprise. Last night's meeting was supposed to run on 27th August, but was postponed and with the Foxes already having matches programmed on 3rd and 10th September, last night was the only option to run before the cut off. Good job they didn't qualify for the play offs as there is another 3-dayer at the end of the month, due to another promotion hiring the track for their major event.

Absolutely - the on-the-night experience needs to be tightened up, with lots of engaging, interesting interviews, plus noise and colour - it's been proven in other sports (T20 cricket is the obvious example).

Amazing to hear that they staged a junior meeting in the afternoon! Apparently the surface was tyre-packed afterwards. Interview with Klindt on BSN, he said it's a known problem, but after doing a track walk he felt it was much worse, possibly because of all the rain this week. From the view on BSN, blading the shale seemed pointless, because they were just back to the shiny clay - it would have taken an age to try to relay the surface. As it is, the riders never got changed, so weren't remotely interested in riding. I'm told that turnstiles weren't closed until the formal announcement at about 19:25 ...

Last heat decider and the tractor would suddenly appear!!😆 I remember one televised meeting with the tractor going over the starting gates in circles ready for the next race, and their opponents team manager going mental!!!😁

Good job main stream TV wasn't there tonight

Most riders are blissfully unaware of the score during the meeting. But are fully aware of their own scoring.

Slick tracks and grippy tracks are part and parcel for the sport, BUT dust should never be accepted, maybe when its a day meeting and the temp is high 20's early 30's fair enough, but not evening meetings in September. All this dust people are breathing in, I bet that will do wonders for your health in years to come. This is not a post aimed at stopping Poole winning at home, or any track having a home advantage but there is no excuse, no excuse whatsoever why a track cant be prepared so that you do not have to wash your car and have a shower after a night out. The amount of proper tracks that have plenty of dirt are far and few between, we might as well race on tarmac because then you can have it dry as ducks back and there will not be any dust. People go on about it be great if speedway was on ITV, no it would not, it would kill the sports reputation once and for all. Peter Oakes said this about dust in a recent interview on 360 speedway, and here is a man that has forgotten more about speedway than most will ever know.

Whether its 40-38 or more in my case 49-47, a close meeting does add something extra but it can stressful too, and going home after a defeat always was a bit of downer because every season my hope was that little Arena Essex would at least win their home meetings because I knew success on the road would be rare. Take out the aggregate bonus point though and that changes the dynamic completely, scrapping a home win means a lot more, and remember when they were giving extra points for winning at home by more than six? I recall the late Jon Cook saying that often made narrow home wins feels like you lost.

I do believe it, I’ve been there, I have prepped a couple of tracks over the years and have been in enough meetings to know how riders moan, the riders are the first to moan about the tyres not up to the job but you put dirt and water down which would help the tyres and they moan cause the engines which “they” choose don’t like it, this is why the dictatorship that is riders running the sport for the riders needs to stop

I think you've answered your own question there.

That meeting tonight was as entertaining as anything I have seen at Armadale this season.

Lawson has his detractors but he does his talking on the Track.He certainly knows where to ride the Poole track.As usual away rider wins rider of the riders as it’s the away fans watching on BSN the do the % of the voting Paco.FFS.

Not to sound like a Glasgow fan and moan about tracks but I think this could be the worst £13.99 I’ve spent in a while.

Vaclav Milik is the wildcard for the 4th and final round in Pardubice on Friday 2nd October

I reckon the wild card that most people thought was Lindgren's might go to whoever finished 8th.

Nobody is ever sure what @Neila is talking about?😂

Need to say, speaking purely as a neutral so unbothered by the result as I have friends in both camps, I enjoyed last nite's meeting. Not been the greatest year for me personally (no violins, sheet happens, I'm dealing with it, life goes on) getting out & spending 2 hours with friends watching & talking speedway sure helped. 9 / 10 it's worth the admisison just to watch Pickering race & pass from the back, however last nite he packed his gating gloves & no doubt to try out an engine & set a marker for the CLRC, but he was quick. Like I said I thoroughly enjoyed last nite, 16pts sould be enough for Scunny which would almost certainly mean watching Poole again so another meeting, but either way not fussed. Oh, & the flamepots were a pleasant surprise <-- THIS is promoting as people remember such things....

Has someone told them..?

Scores in the play offs don’t count towards averages!

Pumped

Glasgow need to be very greatful to the guests. Keeping them in the tie

I don’t know, but I don’t mind a slick track that produces good racing which this has. Unfortunately for us, it’s largely been at our expense. Harris & Flint should be ashamed. A disgraceful input tonight. Nothing short of embarrassing.

Surely Cami will moan about the track being too slick.

I know its only your realistic side. But NKI and Klindt must be a no no for me. Puk has had a good year, and is on a high 7.11 average. Klindt is such an annoying rider, so up and down. Plus been there done that with both. I could put up with your dream side though

Good effort from Brennan tonight mixing with the big boys a bit more.

What is wrong with speedway? I’ll give you an example of the last meeting I attended. Bearing in mind I was converted to speedway from football 18 years ago. It took me over an hour to travel to my nearest track (I know that for many fans this would be a short journey) I got to the entrance, had to wait 20 minutes as there was one card machine. Into the stadium with very poor facilities. Bought my own chair to sit on some scaffolding. After every 4 heats, there was 15 minutes of track grading and watering with nothing to keep me entertained in the meantime. Within 2 laps of track grading there was already a blue line. Dust everywhere. Racing was poor, I have seen much better entertainment in the youth championships. This is nothing against the owners/promoters who are doing their best to keep speedway alive and I am forever grateful to them for doing their best. We need to create some sort of a buzz around speedway, make sure it is the place to go to. It is such a shame as I really used to love going to speedway. Speedway has not evolved at all to cater for the fans. How about introducing some more interactivity (I.e letting the fans ask questions during the meeting/ choosing which riders would be interviewed/voting for rider of the meeting). Or how about this for even bigger blue sky thinking: you take the top 3 scorers from each team and get the fans to decide which 2 from each team contest the final heat. People would say this would advantage the home team, but it would level itself out in the reverse leg. You could even do the same and have an extra heat where the fans choose who ride from the lowest 3 scorers from each team. I have said before, just get someone independent in to look at the sport, make some radical changes which we may not like. What have we got to loose? It saddens me that the sport is on it’s knees.